Diversity: Vital yet Limited
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, proclaims that young women need to “lean in” in
the workforce. By this, she means women should raise their hands, ask questions, ask for
promotions, and be more aggressive to keep up with male peers. I agree that this is not asking too
much of women individually and I think that it’s a good idea in terms of promoting gender
equality. However, it may not be as strongly effective due to the desire of some women wanting
to stay home or stay in working positions that aren’t at the administrative or corporate level. Not
only that but it would also be necessary for some sort change in perspective to occur and some
training be provided by companies. I read a line in the chapter three that stood out to me. It said
companies need to have active policies to promote a diverse climate of inclusion that is part of
the organizational culture. This can be done through training and mentoring, and I think that in
addition to “women sitting at the table” it would begin to make small yet significant steps
towards gender equality.
I am clearly no expert over the matter by any means, but it is my personal opinion that
women are paid less due to the anticipation of maternity leave or family obligations, such as
children. I work in an office setting, where I have many middle-aged working adults above me. It
is clear to see that there are both men and women working, yet an abundance of men in higher up
positions. Another prominent aspect I’ve noticed is that my supervisors who are women, are
often the ones who take off work to take one of their children to an appointment or leave early to
pick them up from school activities at times. I can completely understand a mother’s
responsibility because my mother was always there for all our activities. I believe these factors
do however contribute to why women are still looked at as inferior and paid less. I have yet to